Oslo sights

Sunday 10 December

We’ve had a great day today. We caught a tram to Vigeland Sculpture Park, where Gustav Vigeland’s life work was the creation of more than 200 sculptures, as well as the design of the park and gardens. It was a very frosty morning and the interesting thing was that the frost didn’t disappear as the day progressed. We had to be careful walking in a few icy spots. After an hour or so in the park we were glad to have a coffee in the nice warm cafe.

Vigeland Sculpture Park

From there we caught the tram back to the waterfront where we hoped to catch a ferry across to the Viking Ship Museum, but unfortunately they don’t go in winter so we went by bus instead. There were three Viking burial ships in the museum. They were found buried on farms and contained many grave goods such as sledges, horses, buckets, food and cooking utensils. The wooden items were beautifully carved.

Oseberg ship

On our return to the waterfront we strolled along an area that was a bit like our Southbank, with lots of restaurants and brightly lit Christmas trees. Of course we stopped for another cuppa (and cake) in a nice warm restaurant, before walking back to the hotel.

Christmas tree

When we ventured out again we saw a huge crowd carrying candles and police guarding the hotel next door. We thought it was a protest but they were celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize winner - the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The big Ferris wheel in the Christmas market had pictures of Nobel and an anti nuclear symbol.

Nobel march

Dinner was a sausage by the fire in the Christmas market, followed by some gløgg in a tent by the ice rink. A very satisfying end to a cold but lovely day.